Wall Street money rains on Schumer

Wall Street has showered nearly $11 million on the Senate since the beginning of the year, and more than 15 percent of it has gone to a single senator: Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York.

Schumer’s $1.65 million take from the financial services industry is nearly twice that of any other senator's — and more than five times what the industry gave to any single Republican senator.

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While the industry has scaled back its political spending in the wake of last year’s economic collapse, data from the Center for Responsive Politics show that it’s still investing heavily in the Senate, where it’s likely to have its best shot at stopping — or at least shaping — the crackdown on Wall Street that President Barack Obama has proposed.

Of the $10.6 million the industry has given to sitting senators this year, more than $7.7 million has gone to Democrats. Schumer got his $1.65 million; his New York colleague Kirsten Gillibrand took in $886,000; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada received $814,000; Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd of Connecticut scored $603,000; Colorado freshman Michael Bennet got $401,000; and Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas— who will have a big say on the derivatives portion of regulatory reform — got $336,000.

“Democrats are holding the reins in Washington now with a Democratic-run White House and Congress,” said one financial services lobbyist. “It only makes sense that donors want to put their money into the coffers of those who are driving the agenda.”

Among Republicans, the biggest recipient of financial-industry money so far this year is Richard Shelby of Alabama. But although he’s the ranking Republican on the Banking Committee — ground zero for the regulatory reform bill in the Senate — he’s received just $313,000 from the industry this year.

That’s smaller than the haul for Bennet, the most junior Democrat on the Committee, or Lincoln, who isn’t even on it. And Shelby is the only Republican senator on the industry’s top-10 giving list.

The industry’s giving pattern this year may upend the traditional notion of Republicans as the bagmen for Wall Street. But it also reflects political reality: Democrats hold a commanding if not quite filibuster-proof majority in the upper chamber, and some of them may be willing to side with the financial industry on key aspects of the regulatory reform effort — even if that’s not immediately obvious from the Democrats’ populist rhetoric.

The Financial Services Roundtable, an industry association that gave almost $425,000 to members during the past election, says the issues — not the party — drive its donations.

“We support members that understand the issues facing our industry,” said Scott Talbott, the Rountable’s senior vice president of government affairs. “This is done on a case-by-case basis.”

Democrats insist that industry money doesn’t influence their votes.

“Contributions don’t really affect — my basis of decision making is whether it’s going to be beneficial to Arkansans,” said Lincoln, who noted that financial services firms aren’t among her biggest contributors.

Schumer spokesman Brian Fallon says his boss “calls the shots the way he sees them” — regardless of who’s giving him money.

“The financial services industry is a vital part of New York’s economy, but he doesn’t hesitate to go after the institutions when they are wrong, such as with credit cards, corporate governance and overdraft fees,” Fallon said.

To compare the $1.7 million he’s gotten from the so-called FIRE lobby — that’s finance, insurance that’s not health insurance and real estate — with his positions on key elements of reform, you might think his donors are suffering from Stockholm syndrome.